In Wake of Defeat, Pa. Governor Vows To Revive Education Plan

Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania is likely to push education issues
again in the state's fall legislative session, but he has not yet
committed to fighting again for school choice.

Mr. Ridge last month conceded defeat for his broad education plan,
which included a proposal for statewide private and public school
choice, even though the legislature technically never voted on it. But
the Republican Governor said his plan had substantial public support
and will be revived.

Mr. Ridge probably will introduce some education initiative this
fall, said Tim Reeves, the Governor's press secretary, but he has not
yet decided whether to include the controversial tuition grants for
private and religious school students that sparked strong opposition
this spring.

Democratic leaders, meanwhile, say they, too, plan to make education
an issue. They have called for an education "summit" with Mr. Ridge
this summer. And they say they want to put aside their differences with
the Governor on the tuition grants and work on other parts of his plan,
including proposals to create charter schools and pay for
distance-learning technology.

"Conceptually, there's a lot of room for agreement," said Rep. Ron
Cowell, the Democratic leader of the House education
committee.

28,000 Faxes

Such an overture followed weeks of feuding over the single,
up-or-down vote in the House on the Governor's entire plan, one of the
most ambitious debated in any state this year. (See Education Week,
6/7/95.)

New or expanded voucher programs limited to one city won approval in
Ohio and Wisconsin late last month. (See related story
.)

A statewide coalition of more than 40 organizations opposed the
proposed tuition grants in Pennsylvania and organized a statewide bus
tour to fight the plan. It also worked with a public-relations company
to flood House members with about 28,000 faxes from constituents,
coalition leaders said.

Mr. Ridge, meanwhile, stumped for the plan across the state and
called many House members to his office to lobby for it personally.
Some lawmakers claimed these closed-door conversations included offers
for legislative pay raises and funding for pet projects, such as road
or bridge construction, in exchange for votes--charges that the
Governor said were not true.

On June 16, after several postponed votes, the House rejected the
plan, 106 to 95. But Republican leaders nullified the formal tally,
saying that the electronic tote board that registers votes
malfunctioned.

(See Education reform in Pennsylvania has always been the education
establishment suggesting tinkering with the system," Mr. Reeves said of
the defeat. "Governor Ridge was proposing an overhaul of the system
itself. In doing so, he had to take on virtually every acronym in the
state--all the education groups organized to oppose him."

Nancy Smith, a co-chairwoman of the coalition opposed to the tuition
grants, said, "Frankly, we think the support was never there from the
public on this issue."

The plan's defeat was a setback for the 1,900-student district of
Wilkinsburg, which a local teachers' union is suing because it hired a
for-profit company to run an elementary school beginning in the fall.
(See related story

Vol. 14, Issue 40

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